The Moment Of Iftar For Ramadan Is A Great Opportunity For The Hotel Business

Adyatama Kepariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif Ahli Utama Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf Nia Niscaya. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/The Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf) revealed that breaking the fast (iftar) or joint sahur carried out by the community during Ramadan can be an opportunity for hospitality.

"Hopefully, during Ramadan fasting, people can do something different, such as iftar together or sahur together. This is also an opportunity that can be offered by the hospitality sector," said Adyatama of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Main Expert of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Nia Niscaya in the online talk show The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, March 4.

According to Nia, the hotel sector can take advantage of and offer this opportunity to people who want iftar, sahur, or tarawih prayers together because hotels have a large capacity to accommodate where people can gather together with the same interests.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy also advised the hotel sector to have discounts or room price flexibility to attract people to fill hotel rooms during Ramadan, to meet hotel operational costs during Ramadan such as payment of employee salaries, cleaning rooms, and so on.

"I think that might be one thing we can do, so the flexibility of room prices and of course promotions and can target special segments," said Nia.

During Ramadan, there is usually a decrease in foreign tourist visits (tourists) and domestic tourist movements in the country, which has an impact on decreasing hotel room occupancy, especially in big cities such as Jakarta.

The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) estimates that occupancy during the Eid holiday will be high, this estimate is based on improving overall hotel conditions in Indonesia in 2024 which will improve.

Previously, reflecting on the occupancy ahead of Lebaran 2023, PHRI noted that occupancy in hotels in favorite tourist destination cities was more than 70 percent. Several favorite destinations that are also visited by many travelers such as Yogyakarta, Malang, Cirebon, and while for Jakarta on the 2023 Eid holiday, PHRI noted that there was no increase in hotel occupancy.